Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 14

  Li Hong gazed out at the endless grasslands outside the camp, smiling as he said: "General, won't it be that this afternoon the enemy will come knocking on our door as soon as our army leaves in the morning?"

  Murong Feng glanced at him carelessly, "Aren't you afraid?"

  Li Hong shook his head and smiled wryly at Murong Feng, "General, you are so clever and calculating, how could there be such a big mistake? The reinforcements must have arrived."

  Murong Feng couldn't help but laugh at his certainty, "You're probably really an idiot. On the battlefield, we rely on scouts to gather information, and their individual bravery and cleverness directly affect the accuracy of military intelligence. However, people can make mistakes. It's not impossible for enemies to suddenly appear near Night Swan's surroundings."

  Murong Feng turned to the messenger and shouted, "Order everyone to prepare two days' worth of dry rations, we're preparing to retreat."

  "General, isn't this a joke?" Li Hong said, although he saw Murong Feng give the order, but still somewhat disbelieving.

  A scout rushed in on horseback, "General, the Tiger Tribe's army has appeared five miles from here, with approximately three thousand cavalry."

  "How did you only discover it now?" Murong Feng asked with some blame. The scout looked down in embarrassment, not answering.

  "Go and investigate again. Be careful not to be discovered. We will retreat immediately, and your men will follow afterwards." Murong Feng said in a relatively gentle tone. The scout was deeply moved, bowed his head and saluted on horseback, and then galloped away.

  "General is really good to his subordinates." Li Hong said softly from the side.

  Murong Feng laughed, "Leopard's flattering skills are getting better and better."

  "Really." Li Hong said, "Having been with you for such a long time, I've never seen you blame your subordinates."

  "Who fought the battles? The soldiers. It's because of their numerous white bones that I, Murong Feng, have my current reputation today. What qualifications do I have to blame them? Without them, I would've been a pile of white bones long ago."

  Li Hong silently listened and remembered it in his heart.

  "I also want to thank you." Murong Feng looked at Li Hong and said, "I will never abandon my brother. You are right, what you said is good. In the past, I always thought that sacrificing small benefits to preserve big benefits on the battlefield was a matter of course, but now it seems that I was wrong. Sometimes, even if we have to give up our interests, we must preserve our faith and the hearts of men, in this regard, you are better than me."

  Murong Feng sighed and made a retreating gesture to one of the hundred officials who came over to ask for instructions. Immediately, a long retreat horn sounded in the big camp.

  Li Hong suddenly saw a huge eagle in the sky. He had never seen such a big eagle before. Like a child, he exclaimed, "Eagle, eagle! General, look at that huge eagle!"

  Murong Feng couldn't hold back his excitement and burst out laughing, "You idiot, I really admire you." He waved at the distant messenger again, "Tell them not to retreat, prepare to welcome the Eagle Tribe's warriors."

  "Are you a member of the old wolf's tribe?"

  "Yes." Murong Feng said as he rode his warhorse, "In the past, the Eagle Tribe had three branches. My sworn brother Tiegen was the commander of the third branch. Although we suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of He Lian on the Plains of Charging Cattle, the Eagle Tribe still has strength left. The Tianying branch on Eagle's Beak Cliff is one of the most formidable Xianbei cavalry units. Great King Tan Shi Huai led the Eagle Tribe's iron cavalry in sweeping across the old lands of the Xiongnu, defeating the Xiongnu army at Mount Yanran."

  "What a pity! Such a fine Iron Cavalry, the undefeated Iron Cavalry General, didn't die on the battlefield, but was instead killed by that despicable He Lian at Bouncing Bull Plain." Murong Feng sighed.

  "General, you can avenge now." Li Hong comforted, "Repaying kindness and resentment is one of the greatest things in life, General should be happy." Then he looked at the eagle soaring in the sky and shouted again.

  "This big eagle was raised by Iron Eagle, the commander of the Eagle Tribe, for many years. An old friend has come in person, I should go and greet him." Murong Feng called out to Li Hong. Li Hong happily agreed and ran off to help Murong Feng prepare his horse.

  "Come on, follow me to meet an old friend. I was really startled just now. This old fellow is still playing this trick." Murong Feng flew onto his horse and rushed out of the camp first.

  Murong Feng rode a red horse, followed by several attendants. Li Hong rode a black leopard closely behind Murong Feng's horse. After walking about three miles, they saw a cavalry charging towards them like lightning from afar. At this time, the flag held high in front of the troops was a huge black eagle flag.

  The cavalry suddenly stopped neatly on the grassland. The moment of transformation from movement to stillness made Li Hong, who was on horseback, stare in amazement. Such excellent horsemanship and tacit understanding between horses could not be achieved through short-term training. From this, it can be seen that this iron cavalry has a strong combat effectiveness, no wonder the general praised them earlier.

  A tall black horse suddenly rushed out from under the old eagle's great flag.

  Murong Feng shouted loudly from afar: "Tie E brothers..."

  "Haha, old crazy guy..."

  The two urged their horses on continuously. When they arrived at a close distance, they almost simultaneously jumped off their horses and tightly hugged each other.

  "The Battle of Beinuo Yuan, I regret not listening to my brother's advice, resulting in our army being completely defeated, causing huge losses for the Eagle Tribe. I, Murong Feng, am unworthy of you."

  "Madman, it's too presumptuous to say that. You are Iron Root's good brother and also my good brother. You led the rebellion for the sake of brotherly love. To say the truth, our Eagle Tribe owes you." Tie Gong said emotionally, pulling Mu Rong Feng's hand.

  The two of them walked and talked, slowly arriving in front of the three thousand iron cavalry. Someone in the group shouted loudly: "Dismount." With a rustling sound, all the cavalrymen were standing beside their horses, as if they had been there all along.

  "Present arms to the General!" The sound echoed again, this time accompanied by the clashing of weapons, but it did nothing to diminish the overwhelming aura that swept in. All the soldiers, including Tie Nang, dropped to one knee, showing their loyalty and respect to Murong Feng.

  Murong Feng's eyes became moist.

  At that time, for the sake of brotherhood, he abandoned everything and led a rebellion. Although he was defeated, he won the respect of the entire Xianbei tribe and gained the support of thousands of tribes, both open and secret. Isn't this the same as Leopard's determination to never abandon his brothers? If Leopard hadn't risked his life to save Duan Yun that day, I wouldn't have suddenly trusted and liked this little Han man either. Leopard is right, one cannot lose the hearts of men, otherwise, the Xianbei state will lose its cohesiveness and its power to contend for the world.

  "Great General, is this little guy the Han who saved Duanmu's life?" Tie Ao interrupted Mochou Feng's contemplation and asked suddenly. In public, Tie Ao didn't dare to call Mochou Feng "madman", but instead followed everyone else in calling him Great General.

  Murong Feng smiled and nodded, his fond expression evident on his face. "He's very intelligent and eager to learn, and he's also honest, it's just that his temperament is a bit stubborn."

  "Is it because you see him and think of yourself when you were young, that's why you like him so much? I heard from Duan Zhen that you have a special liking for him."

  Murong Feng burst out laughing and turned his head to look at Li Hong, who was still staring foolishly at the old eagle in the sky. "Does he resemble me when I was young? I don't think so. I was more handsome than him back then, and also smarter than he is now." As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with Tie Gong, and both of them burst out laughing.

  "How is Duanzun and those wounded soldiers?"

  "Don't worry, they're getting the best treatment on Eagle's Peak."

  "Thank you, old friend."

  "When will the war start?"

  "It's almost time. Soon we can let the Longtan Pig taste the flavor of Black Eagle Iron Rider."

  "I don't know if Kuo Tzu has escaped to the Quei residence. We can't let this opportunity slip by and not kill Kuo Tzu, it would be a betrayal of the deceased Tieh Ken and our Eagle tribe's brave warriors."

  Murong Feng gazed at Tie E's face, which had turned pitch black from enduring the wind and frost, without saying a word. He thought so too.

  The next day, the vanguard tribe, the Wugeshan tribe, the Xizhao tribe, the Likeng tribe, and the Sumu tribe's cavalry arrived at Ye Yan's camp. More than 8,000 horses gathered on this grassland, making it crowded and lively. The dense cowhide tents were neatly arranged in rows, looking like a green land with newly grown gray mushrooms from afar. Old friends reunited, eating horse meat and drinking mare's milk, chatting about the gods of heaven and earth. The leaders of each tribe all gathered in Murong Feng's large tent, reminiscing about old times and discussing battle plans.

  Li Hong had been staying in the Black Eagle tribe. Tie Guo probably liked Li Hong, who still had a hint of innocence, because of his relationship with Ai Wu and Ou. Seeing that he loved his old eagle very much, he was delighted and ordered his youngest son, Tie Guo, to take him out to play with eagles and horses. Tie Guo was over 20 years old, at the age when blood and energy were just vigorous. He saw Li Hong always looking at him and the old eagle playing together with eyes of admiration and envy, and his vanity was greatly satisfied.

  "It's called Iron Mouth, it's a sacred object of our tribe. In battle, it can also help us scout out the enemy situation."

  Li Hongda was amazed and delighted by this iron-beaked divine eagle.

  "Is your tribe still around?"

  "This divine object is hard to come by, and having one would already make our Xianbei tribe famous. What's more? If we have it, our tribe will become rich, and we can exchange it for tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, and wild horses."

  Li Hong smiled awkwardly like an idiot.

  "Your iron cavalry is as fierce as the wind, and the Xianbei are indeed famous for their reputation." Li Hong saw that he had no chance to get close to Da Ying, so he just made small talk.

  Tie Guo immediately regained his spirit and began to tell Li Hong about the glorious history of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry. Li Hong listened intently, occasionally interrupting to ask questions.

  Murong Feng received the latest news at night.

  Hui Ke reported that after the initial contact with He Lian's army, they had shifted towards the Black Day Forest, but He Lian seemed hesitant to pursue and remained stationed at the original location.

  Tie Lang Gong Sun Hu Duan Song reported back, the main force set up an ambush at Xima Slope, 40 miles away from Juntu, but Que Ju retreated to Juntu after a slight contact, causing the plan to fail. They requested General's instruction on what to do next.

  Yuwen Shang sent someone to report. He has arrived at Pizi Platform near Dayan Mountain according to the commander's order and met with 10,000 iron cavalry of the Xibei Xianbei Hongri tribe. The leader of the great army is Luochi Daoren's eldest son, Luochi Diaohe, this great army has moved towards Wushui in accordance with the commander's order.

  The Morige tribe led by Mengli Zhe crossed Tianma and is moving towards Pizi Tai.

  The Miga of the Bai Zhan tribe has led an army of 10,000 across the river and joined forces with the armies of the Jin Diao and Hei Diao tribes. They may be heading towards Chen Xing Yuan. A thousand troops under Murong Feng, a subordinate of Murong Ji of the Jin Diao tribe, are already stationed there.